What rubbish!

I wonder, is there a prerequisite when one applies for employment within a local authority for prospective employees to have gained skills not in the usual fields of things such as efficiency, politeness, customers service and financial awareness? It would appear so.

Yesterday I had the unfortunate opportunity to have a small 'contretemps' with the powers that govern all those wonderfully efficient services provided for us in return for payment of our (very high) council tax. In the first place the rate of tax here is the highest level I have suffered anywhere. I accept there are fewer people live here and consequently the services per capita are higher but at times I wonder exactly what services we are talking about.
Service does not seem to be the main function of this council, I'm sure it's not the only one, but what this council seems to excel at is prevarication, work avoidance and wasting, to the best of their ability, the monies they procure from us.

So the situation is this; the only service that we do receive directly, refuse collection, is undergoing changes, no longer do we have to drag our full bags of rubbish the 200 yards to a designated 'collection point' instead we have been issue with compost bins, wheelie bins and all manner of other rubbish recepticals. The theory is fine and good, it is 'sold' to us as a means of recycling household waste but what it actually appears to be is two things, one, an exercise in reducing still further the work done by the council employees and two, an very adept way of wasting as much money as possible......and no amount of talking common sense will seemingly resolve the problems we have been presented with. Ok, so the words 'council' and common sense' are probably not regularly used in one sentence I accept.

There are eight flats here, we live in the middle of the countryside. The first phase of this new scheme was that we were delivered four horrendously ugly plastic compost bins that none of us need, we have plenty of places to operate a real compost heap if we wish. On the day of delivery said bins were hurled around in strong winds resulting in considerable damage to two residents cars. We called the council and explained that we have no need for these items and as we have no gardens or out buildings we have nowhere to put them anyways so would they please remove them....the answer was no, so they continue to be a rolling, unused eyesore, perpetually needing collecting from wherever the latest wind has landed them.

Stage two, we were delivered yesterday eight ugly wheelie bins but only after I chased the deliverers halfway along the road to tell them that four bins for eight properties wasn't enough. Then we get to the 'instruction manual' that accompanies this system. Different colour bags for different types of waste, yada, yada, yada, you know the kind of drill but again we have to move said bins to the designated collection point. This requires that each bin be dragged approximately 100 yards along the front of the building to access a ramp, dragged up that ramp then across the same distance of gravel, up another ramp and then along the road some yards to the entrance of the properties. It is just not possible, we organised a practice run and even the guys here, and believe me some of them, PG included, are no lightweights, but trying to man handle a large heavy bin over gravel is not a simple operation and for me completely impossible! I couldn't even drag it up the ramp let alone get it over the gravel. Add to that we are not allowed to leave said bin at the collection point any sooner than the night before collection means that in winter this malarky has to be carried out in the dark.

There is a simple solution that would merely involve moving the 'collection point' and the pick-up vehicle reversing across the gravel to the top of the ramp, still a difficulty for most of us but easier. But no, way too simple. PG called the controlling authority to explain the problem and after much frustrated explanation finally the jobs-worth on the other end of the line agreed to a compromise....he would send an 'assessor' out to the properties to assess the situation!! FFS...so they employ someone to actually carry out an assessment rather than just use a little common sense?....no wonder councils attract more than their fair share of bad press. First they deliver useless compost bins, then the deliver too few wheelie bins, all way beyond the date we were informed the scheme would commence and now they are wasting time and money sending some halfwit all the way out here....... to look at a gravel car park! Gah!

The deed is done.....

....this morning I finally hit the button and killed off DAB forever.

I had kinda harboured secret thoughts that I could somehow save it but I couldn't, it just wasn't meant to be and so, with a second or two's hesitation and some sentimentality going on, I did the deed and consigned it to the great website in the sky.

I'm still feeling a bit lost without it, it has been 'what I did' for almost a year but there's no use crying over spilt milk as they say. Thus it's onward and upward, something new is on it's way, afterall this isn't the demise of M&S or some such (thankyou 'S' and 'F' for helping me regain that perspective) so I'm busy beetling away on a new site which I hope to get up and running very soon.

Watch this space.....

So far so good

Well I made it to Monday morning, I still have a connection, one down one to go, only tonight's 'updating' carry on to go and I'm home free.....I'll not start counting any chickens yet though!

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On a definitely more positive note, the last week may have been a relative disaster in gemmak's-ville, perhaps even one of the worst I recall one way and another but things are looking up in at least one area....among all the confusions I forgot that aside from this coming Thursday, I am now on holiday from the 'day job' for a whole three weeks!!!! Yayyyy.

Oh....and we have 'significant' snow forecast...again no chicken counts but the possibility of white-ness is there :o)

Anything could happen

Wanadoo my ever crap wonderful ISP have decided yet again in their wisdom to update their clients liveboxes. I being a customer will have to undergo this painful procedure sometime over the next 48 hours I am reliably informed by email.

This should of course not be a problem, it should all just happen by the wonders of modern technology but I have my reservations...... for despite following their instructions to the letter on two previous occasions, not turning the damn thing off etc. etc. whilst this 'update' took place, the first time I was left without a connection for three weeks and the second time for 5 days! The ensuing debacle in how not to provide customer service was well documented here at the time so I won't bore you with it again but to say I have some concern as to whether I will have any internet access in the near future, would be something of an understatement!

Two things confound me in this.......why in the first place they deem it necessary to update, when finally and unusually it is working well..... and why in God's name they have not yet realised that this update malarky just doesn't seem to happen as they promise! Hell, one would assume that they have some degree of technical know how, though from experience they keep it well hidden, and yet, every time they decide in their inimitable wisdom to 'update' my live box what they actually achieve is to kill it stone dead!

Hence, if I appear to go awol in the next 48 hours you wont be too surprised!

Putting green?

It's not only PG these days who is obsessed with golf......and yes, really, 'putting' and even 'swinging' are practiced in the living room from time to time! Don't ask, it's a point of occasional contention! Boys will be boys and Tilly will be Tilly.

Saturday silliness Tilliness

This, if you please, is Tilly's most recently favoured 'favourite place'. Not satisfied with making it up there she invariably gets up there at the dead of night and then howls pitifully to be rescued. I might add that PG is on night shifts at the moment and at five foot it requires me to not only get out of bed but also get a step ladder, erect it and climb it, in my late night rescue efforts!

A big thank you.....

....before I fall into bed for my 5am start at the 'day job' tomorrow, to all of you who left such kind comments on yesterday's post regarding the sad demise of Design-a-blog.

You thoughts and wishes were very much appreciated and believe me, when the going got tough on a few occasions over the last 24 hours they really helped. I know also that Lisa greatly appreciates all of your wishes and I assure you she is ok.

Hopefully things will return to some semblance of normality on the design front sometime next week and until then a great big thank you to all of you.

Normal service will of course continue here......nope, you don't get to escape that easy!

Heavens above.....

....Paddy tagged me with a music meme. I don't 'do' music, well at least not on a very regular basis. It's not that I don't love some music, it's just that I like the natural sounds around here, the sheep, birds, the pair of owls that hoot back and forward to one another all night and the flocks of geese that pass overhead so often. None the less,not one to buck a challenge here goes.....

Here's the rules:
List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if theyÂ’re any good, but they must be songs youÂ’re really enjoying now. Post these instructions in your blog along with your seven songs. Then tag seven other people to see what theyÂ’re listening to.

My songs of the moment are:
1. You're beautiful - James Blunt
2. Crazy - Katie Melua
3. Run- Lighthouse Family
4. Lonely Man - Real Crazy Apartment
5. Minnie the Moocher - Cab Calloway
6. Tutu - Miles Davis
7. Handbags and Gladrags - Stereophonics

And the cruel bit, I get to tag four other poor unsuspecting souls, get to it guys.

Shephard
Fletch
Joanna
Pusher Robot

The male variant

On a lighter note, I am coming under heavy pressure from certain quarters to spread the word on the concept of a 'male variant valentines day'! Please, if you are of an easily offended nature can I suggest you ignore this post and move onto the next blog.

For those of you not so delicate, perhaps you would care to check out here what it is that March the 20th is being currently designated as....or alternatively girls, maybe we should consider launching a counter offensive! ;o)

End of an era

A sad day. Design-a Blog in it's present form no longer exists.

For reasons beyond our control Lisa has suddenly had to leave the business, which at least for the time being leaves just me manning the pumps so to speak.

It feels like the end of an era, I am very sad that we are no longer a partnership though we remain good friends. We worked hard to get to the point we were at and right now it just feels like it's never gonna be the same.

That said, give me a few days, please bear with me and I will have a new design site set up and start over. Maybe in time it will be the two of us again but for now it's yours truly on her ownsome.

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N.B. If you carry our current button my apologies but it may disappear leaving a nasty place holder. I would greatly appreciate it if you would contact me in that instance and allow me to place a new button on your blog.

Bring on March........

....February sucks! It really does, can we bring on March please, enough is enough.

It seems that the last week has been just one thing after another and today yet more bad news of difficulties affecting another close friend, another situation I feel terribly sorry about and one I can, I think, do very little to help in sadly.

Everything comes in three's they say so maybe things will begin to turn a round now, I sincerely hope so for those involved, things surely must begin to look more positive soon, I have rarely experienced, even second hand, such a run of unfortunate and sad situations, it's definitely time for things to improve among those I care for.

Amazingly as I was typing this post I received an email from a friend which caused me to change it's content half way through. really, many more of the depressive dirges and you would all have been running for the hills! The email contained a link, the link was to a page giving a lighthearted definition of the phrase 'shit happens'. This is a life situation that has been discussed before between myself and the friend who hit my mail box at such an appropriate moment....... but somehow this time and with such immaculate timing, like turning a switch it made me consider the ups and downs of the last few days and turn my thoughts around.

Shit just does happen, it isn't always within our control and we can only make decisions on the information we have at the time. Life is a risk, we take risks every day to some degree but now and again we are faced with choices that require us to take bigger chances, that require us to make decision that we don't always realise the future implications of but we have to live with and deal with the fall out when it happens. We have no choice, shit does happens and we have to accept our temporary misfortune, look it in the eye and contend with it

These choices and the effect they have on our lives, if we look hard enough have often a positive aspect to them which isn't always immediately obvious. It takes us time to see what can be gained from something that initially seems to be a negative, and yet how we handle life's curved balls invariably makes us the people we are.....and stronger.

Whilst today's news is horrible, and a great shock, the individual concerned knows how sorry I feel and knows I will do anything within my power to help, they know they are very much in my thoughts right now but they also know that with time the situation will seem less traumatic and ultimately may have some positive outcome.

So, onward and upward my friend, you know who you are. Take time to re-group your thoughts, allow yourself to heal from the shock of today's events but remember you will look back on this and see it differently, remember you are loved and in the dark moments remember there is some positive aspect to be found in almost any situation, though it might not seem like it right now, there is.

And not to make light of the situation but I know the person of whom I speak will appreciate this....this is what you get when you hurriedly try to take a picture of a 'small cat' to send as reminder of more cheerful things:

This place we call 'home'

I still cannot cease to be amazed by the kindness and concern show by so many individuals here in this place we call 'home', the blogosphere.

One only has to throw up a slightly odd and distracted post, suggesting in it's lack of detail that all is not quite as hunky dory as it might be in gemmak's-ville temporarily and almost immediately, along with the kindest of comments, my inbox suddenly becomes the bearer of emails of offers to help, some from people I have only known a very short time.

This virtual home of ours really is quite incredible, a true community inhabited by some very special people.

So to all of those who commented, mailed me, called me or took the time to speak to me in person, the biggest thank you, you are a fab lot and I consider myself lucky to be in your company.

:o)

Bookends!

The last few days.....

....have been somewhat peculiar in gemmak's-ville for a number of reasons, none of which I can go into here, which begs the obvious question, why I am typing this at all? I don't know is the answer but I am none the less.

I have stuff going on in my head, thoughts and feelings that somehow right now I just can't find suitable words for..... and even if I could, I couldn't articulate them in this forum. Some of the incidents haven't directly affected me but have resulted, among other things, in my questioning if I gave appropriate advice, whether I should have suggested another route, could I have been more help or did I completely misread the given situation and consequently only make matters worse.

Some other 'goings on' have been more directly in my own life, nothing terrible just a little confusing and unsettling but resolvable and do-able. I kinda feel like I have been treading water, going nowhere and doing nothing for a few days, stuck in a fog and I don't like it too much. Again I can't go into details, again it begs the question what is this post about, and again I'm not sure.

Hey ho, tomorrow is another day.......